Following his discharge from the Army, Burt Bacharach first served as Vic Damone's accompanist before later working with such performers as the Ames Brothers, Imogene Coca, Joel Grey and Paula Stewart (his first wife), but his career did not take off until he met lyricist Hal David one day in 1957 at the historic Brill Building in NYC. Within a year, the pair had their first Number 1 hit, the country tune "The Story of My Life" (1957), recorded by Marty Robbins, which they followed with Perry Como's "Magic Moments" (1958). Bacharach gained considerable attention touring Europe and America as musical director for Marlene Dietrich from 1958 to 1961 and then worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on their 1961 singles "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay." After meeting a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed particularly well-suited to his music, Bacharach began writing songs with David by day and recording them with Warwick until 2 AM. The Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate would go on to have 39 chart records in 10 years, beginning with "Don't Make Me Over," which climbed to Number 21 in 1962. Eight of them...

Following his discharge from the Army, Burt Bacharach first served as Vic Damone's accompanist before later working with such performers as the Ames Brothers, Imogene Coca, Joel Grey and Paula Stewart (his first wife), but his career did not take off until he met lyricist Hal David one day in 1957 at the historic Brill Building in NYC. Within a year, the pair had their first Number 1 hit, the country tune "The Story of My Life" (1957), recorded by Marty Robbins, which they followed with Perry Como's "Magic Moments" (1958). Bacharach gained considerable attention touring Europe and America as musical director for Marlene Dietrich from 1958 to 1961 and then worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on their 1961 singles "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay." After meeting a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed particularly well-suited to his music, Bacharach began writing songs with David by day and recording them with Warwick until 2 AM. The Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate would go on to have 39 chart records in 10 years, beginning with "Don't Make Me Over," which climbed to Number 21 in 1962. Eight of them would make it into the Top 10, and though Warwick has sang Bacharach infrequently since the early 70s, she remains the chief interpreter of his work.

Bacharach-David tunes began to adorn films beginning with "Lizzie" and "The Sad Sack" (both 1957). Though they provided memorable title songs for 1966's "Alfie" (sung by Cher) and "The Owl and the Pussycat" (1970), for which Bacharach also composed the score, they gained perhaps their greatest acclaim (filmwise), winning two Oscars for their work on "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), which included the infectious "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head." At the same time, the Bacharach-David musical "Promises, Promises," based on the 1960 Billy Wilder movie "The Apartment" and featuring the hit "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," had begun its three year run on Broadway, earning a 1969 Grammy for Best Score From an Original Cast Album. That same year, he also earned a second Grammy for Best Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television ("Butch Cassidy"). The score for "Lost Horizon" (1973) signaled the end of his most prolific songwriting period, and he withdrew exhausted to a beach house, alienating both David and Warwick.

Bacharach's marriage to second wife Angie Dickinson did not survive the period of relative inactivity that ensued, and his relationship with next wife lyricist Carole Bayer Sager mixed romance and art. They wrote (along with Peter Allen and Christopher Cross) the Oscar-winning theme for "Arthur" (1981), and the following year, Ron Howard's "Night Shift" introduced "That's What Friends Are For." Old friend Dionne Warwick and a few friends (like Gladys Knight) scored a Number 1 hit in 1985 with the song, which served as a rallying cry for AIDS awareness and brought Bacharach his last Grammy to date. The 90s have seen a resurgence of vintage Bacharach as a new generation led by the likes of Oasis' Noel Gallagher and REM's Michael Stipe have discovered his music and paid homage to him in interviews and through recordings. Elvis Costello co-wrote with Bacharach (via fax and answering machine) the show-stopper "God Give Me Strength" for Allison Anders' "Grace of My Heart" (1996), and five classic Bacharach-David tunes brightened the film comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997). Though "Promises, Promises" proved too dated to revive, it has been staged at NYC's "Encores!" and L.A.'s "Reprise! Broadway's Best in Concert" Director-choreographer Gillian Lynne conceived "What the World Needs Now" (1998) a stage musical combining Bacharach-David songs with a book by Kenny Solms telling a 90s romance story.

A stage musical utilizing Bacharach-David songs, "What the World Needs Now", bowed at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre

1973:

Burned out after rushing to finish the score of the musical film "Lost Horizon", retreated to beach house and reneged on a Warwick album, leading her and David to file lawsuits (eventually settled out of court)

1999:

Collaborated with Tim Rice on the song "Walking Tall" for the film "Stuart Little"

1957:

First Number 1 hit (with David), the country song "The Story of My Life", recorded by Marty Robbins

1997:

Five vintage Bacharach-David tunes brightened the film comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding"

Met a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed well-suited to his material; Bacharach and David wrote songs by day and recorded them at night with her, resulting ultimately in eight Top 10 hits

1952:

Met Vic Damone and toured with him as accompanist following discharge from the military

1981:

Co-wrote with Carole Bayer Sager, Peter Allen and Christopher Cross the hit theme from the film "Arthur"; won third Oscar

1965:

First film as composer, "What's New, Pussycat?"; title song was a Top 5 hit for Tom Jones

1969:

Had one of his biggest successes with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", written for the feature "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; won first two Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Original Song

1993:

Reunited with Warwick on the song "Sunny Weather Love", included on her album "Friends Can Be Lovers"

1961:

Worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on the group's singles "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay"

1996:

Appeared at London's Royal Festival Hall, where Oasis' Noel Gallagher joined him to croon "This Guy's In Love with You"

:

Bacharach resurgence fueled by such notables as British superband Oasis (who put a picture of him on their 1994 mega-selling album "Definitely Maybe"), The Cranberries, REM's Michael Stipe and acid jazz masters Massive Attack

1955:

Became a member of ASCAP

1957:

Met lyricist Hal David at NYC's Brill Building

1997:

Appeared as himself in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"

1996:

Co-wrote with Elvis Costello (via fax and answering machine) the show-stopping tune "God Give Me Strength" for Allison Anders' "Grace of My Heart", proving that his return was not just a rehabilitation of reputation but a creative renaissance as well

1968:

Composed score for Broadway musical, "Promises, Promises", which ran for three years and 1,281 performances

1982:

Composed the music for Ron Howard's "Night Shift", which introduced "That's What Friends Are For" (co-written by Sager)

1985:

Dionne (Warwick) and Friends score Number 1 hit with "That's What Friends Are For", earning him last Grammy to date; proceeds of the recording were donated to AIDS research

1957:

First film as composer of title (theme) song only, "The Sad Sack"

1957:

First film credit, pre-composed song for "Lizzie"

1962:

First hit with Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over", climbed to Number 21 on the charts

Served with US Army, playing piano at the officer's club on Governor's Island (NYC) and giving concerts at Fort Dix (New Jersey); also spent time overseas

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Education

McGill University:
Montreal, Quebec -

Mannes College of Music:
New York, New York -

Mannes College of Music:
New York, New York -

New School of Social Research:
New York, New York -

Music Academy of the West:
Santa Barbara, California -

Berkshire Music Center:
Tanglewood, Massachusetts -

Notes

He was named CUE Magazine's Entertainer of the Year (1969).

Bacharach and collaborator Hal David received the 1996 Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Ira Gerswin once signed a piece of sheet music to him: "For Burt, the 5th 'B'--in no particular order--Beethoven, Brahams, Berlin, Bach & Bacharach."

"I was working so hard, I didn't allow myself the luxury of basking in the success that was going on. It's like, I'd finish one thing and be into the next. I cared so much in that moment about my work. It was like winning the horse race, and you don't even savor that moment in the winner's circle as much as you should. You're off to win the next race. I should have enjoyed it a little more." --Burt Bacharach, The New York Times, July 24, 1997.

"I remember playing it ['What the World Needs Now Is Love'] for Dionne [Warwick], because she got first crack at just about anything. She didn't like it. And I thought if she didn't like it, the song mustn't be very good. Invalidated it. So I put it away. Hal had way more confidence in it. He said, 'Play it for Jackie DeShannon.' Worked out fine." --Burt Bacharach, Entertainment Weekly, August 8, 1997.

Carole Bayer Sager. Lyricist. Married on April 3, 1982; divorced c. 1991; co-won Best Song Oscar with Bacharach and others for "Arthur" (1981); co-won Grammy for "That's What Friends Are For" (1987); adopted son Cristopher with Bacharach.

wife:

Jane Bacharach. Born c. 1961; married c. 1991; mother of Oliver and Raleigh.